NORTH CANAAN — The question keeps coming up: Is Troop B slated to close?The answer remains a firm “no” from the state Department of Emergency Service and Public Protection. But many state troopers and civilian dispatchers remain adamant it is headed in that direction. Local officials and legislators see the implications as too serious to ignore the possibility.The plan made public continues to be a consolidation of dispatch services for Troop B in North Canaan, Troop A in Southbury and Troop L in Litchfield. The goal is to save money and move troopers from a dispatch desk to road patrol, in hopes of increasing public safety.That raises concerns that immediate help for Troop B walk-ins will not be available during the overnight hours.State Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) told local officials at a legislative update breakfast in Cornwall last week that the response he received to his request for plans for the dispatch consolidation was that there are no plans on paper. “I was also told Troop B won’t close but will be essentially empty. They can say it will remain open because there will be a phone in the lobby,” he said.While the phone will get an immediate response, there is a good possibility that the person who responds will be in Litchfield. That is not good enough, opponents to the consolidation say. There are situations that require immediate assistance from a trooper.Roraback said he has heard from many troopers that this is just the first step in closing Troop B.“None will speak for attribution because they fear retaliation from the brass,” he said. “I have asked to meet with the commissioner and requested a plan so I can understand what it is, staffing levels and costs. So far, if the phone doesn’t ring, it’s the commissioner.”State Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64) asked the department for an incident report of people who come to Troop B at night. “I was told no one ever comes in at night. The number is a big zero,” Willis said.Dispatcher speaks outNot so, said Penny Terry, a civilian dispatcher at Troop B for 27 years. She recently became eligible for her maximum pension (less than half her annual salary) and will retire May 1. She approached The Lakeville Journal earlier this week, anxious to tell what she knows, and what she believes will happen.She listed some of the reasons people come to Troop B. They might be looking for directions, reporting a runaway child, requesting to have their vehicle checked after hitting a deer, reporting an accident or something suspicious, or involved in a domestic situation and needing immediate protection.“Just because it’s dark doesn’t mean that kind of stuff stops,” Terry said. Terry said Troop B personnel have been notified the consolidation will take place Sunday, April 1, and that Troop B officers were meeting with Deputy Commissioner Danny Stebbins Monday, Feb. 27, to hear final details of the plan. Troop B Commander Lt. David Rice did not return a call to verify that date.Currently a sergeant is in the building every shift to supervise.“But if there’s a big accident or something major is going on, he’s going to go out on it, so there is a real potential that at any given time of night this building will be empty,” Terry said.In most of the state, cities and towns have their own police force. State Police patrols are essentially for major highways. In the northwest and northeast corners, troopers play a very different role. Small towns depend on them to patrol all roads and handle every emergency. Some towns choose to pay for a resident state trooper, but they are on duty only five out of 21 shifts per week. A few towns have quasi-police departments, with more than one resident state trooper and local constables, so that someone is always on duty there.“I give it two years. Troop B will close completely,” Terry said. “It doesn’t make any sense. Crime is on the rise. This is going backward.”Does she believe the state’s plan is to force more towns to take on the financial burden by hiring more resident troopers?“Absolutely,” she said.The cost of a resident state trooper’s salary, benefits, vehicle maintenance and fuel is about $150,000. Towns share in the cost with the state. An obvious issue for anyone who has worked in emergency response is the potential loss of people who know the towns and roads, and can quickly give directions or find a location without having to consult a map.In a Dec. 21, 2011, letter to Willis, Stebbins wrote, “A training program will be provided for those dispatchers who express concern as to working in a regional dispatch center owing to a lack of knowledge as to their broadened area of responsibility.”Terry, who lives in East Canaan, said she is among those who would give up their job rather than travel all the way to Litchfield. “It’s not just about the time and gas, but when the roads are bad, we sit here and take call after call about accidents, especially on Robert’s Hill on Route 63,” Terry said. “I didn’t sign up to be out driving in that, and what happens when dispatchers no longer live close by and can’t get to work?”Stebbins’ letter states that full-time personnel were dedicated for the prior seven months to studying the regionalization. However, no plan on paper is available.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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